


The Ol' Space Switcheroo

by miraculousstorytelling



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bodyswap, Dirty Jokes, Lance has the maturity of an actual child, M/M, Ridiculous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a particularly rough fight, Keith and Lance are sent into the healing pods and when a power surge occurs overnight, the two emerge, but something is off...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ol' Space Switcheroo

The battle had been intense enough that it left most of the team wounded. Keith, of course, charged straight into the largest ship and recklessly attacked anything he could. Shiro had shouted at him to get back, and Lance naturally had raced right in after him. After taking a beating, the two retreated to form Voltron with the rest of the team, but not before sustaining some heavy injuries.

Keith was nursing a fractured arm and bruised ribs, and Lance had definitely broken a leg and collarbone. Both were covered in bruises, and Coran suspected one or both had a concussion. They were both sent straight to the healing pods, though the look on Shiro's face indicated a lecture was coming once they were well again.

 

No one even noticed the power surge in the dead of night. Especially not the two paladins still in the healing pods. When the team gathered to greet the two as they exited the healing pods the next day, no one was prepared for what emerged.

Lance stepped out first, rubbing his head and sighing, "Okay, I know you're all-" He froze, "What happened to my voice?"

Hunk raised a brow, "What are you talking about?"

Lance frowned, "Am I taller? And why..." His voice trailed off as he looked down, "I'm..."

Shiro stepped closer, "Lance, what's wrong?"

" _Lance_?!" Lance's voice squeaked as he shouted, "I'm not-" He rushed to the nearest reflective surface, eyes wide, "No... No, no, no, this can't be happening..."

Keith emerged from the pod with an exaggerated yawn and stretch, "Well, I feel caught up on my beauty rest. How about you, K-" He froze, "Wait, am I shorter? And paler?" His eyes fell to his hands, "Wait. Fingerless gloves?" A horrified look filled his eyes as he reached back to brush over his hair, "Mullet?" He shrieked, "Am I Keith?!"

Allura stared, "Are you...Lance?"

Keith's body turned to fully face them, eyes wide, "What's going on?!"

Keith in Lance's body finally looked away from his reflection, "Okay, clearly we've switched bodies."

Coran glanced between them, jaw dropped in surprise, "How did this happen?"

Lance turned his temporary body to glare at Pidge, "Did you do this?"

She frowned, "Of course not! I don't even know _how_ to do something like this."

Hunk shrugged, "Well, I've read a few books about it. The technology's there."

Keith sighed in relief, "So, you can fix this?"

"Well..."

"Oh, come on, you have to fix this! I can't be stuck in _Keith's_ body forever!" Lance shouted, his borrowed voice rising in pitch courtesy of Lance's frightened state.

Keith scowled, folding his arms over his chest, "We need to figure out how this happened." Keith's characteristically serious and dry tone sounded oddly flat in Lance's normally emotive voice.

Lance's overly passionate manner of speech had sounded unusual with Keith's voice. "Yes, Keith, you're right." The sarcasm in Lance's frustrated response, however, fit Keith's voice to a T, "We _should_ figure out how it happened, but maybe _after_ we fix it."

Keith rolled his eyes as he grimaced, "If we figure out how it happened, we can figure out how to fix it, genius."

Shiro stepped between them before Lance could punch his body's arm, "Okay, okay. So, you two have switched bodies. Somehow." Though he tried to stay calm, even Shiro sounded a little out of his depth.

Allura walked to the main console to do some investigating, "I'm sure we'll get this sorted out. In the meantime, try not to panic."

"Panic?" His voice soared to an entirely new octave as Lance clearly did the opposite of what Allura asked, "Panic?! Of course I'm panicking! I have a mullet!" Pidge and Hunk tried not to snicker at the sound of Keith's voice at such a high pitch.

"Okay, calm down," Hunk advised, trying to keep his voice soothing, though the effect was ruined somewhat when he chuckled.

Keith spoke up, resting his hand on his hip, "Do you think I'm any happier in your body?"

"Paladins!" Allura shouted, frowning, "I need to focus."

The two fell silent as she examined the screen in front of her.

Lance was quiet for a record-breaking minute and a half. "Dude!" He said quietly, staring at Keith's gloved palms, "Your hands are so small! Like...everything is so little!" Lance stared at the hands of his temporary body with wonder, whispering, "How do you even hold stuff?"

Keith scowled, grumbling softly, "I can't help it that you have giant hands. Seriously, you're like a beanpole."

"No, but everything is so..." Lance paused, a mischievous grin spreading over his lips, "Hmmm..." He raced off to the bathroom, still moving a bit awkwardly as he adjusted to his new limbs, before anyone could stop him.

Keith followed, stumbling over Lance's unfamiliar legs as he immediately realized just what Lance was up to, shouting, "Lance!!"

Allura shot them a glare.

Seconds later, a triumphant cry sounded through the hall, "Mine's bigger!"

Keith blushed, " _Lance_!"

Hunk sighed, "Oh, man..." Pidge readied her bayard to keep Lance in line when he returned.

 

Allura finally stepped away from the console, "Last night, the castle experienced a power surge, and it appears that may have somehow caused this condition."

Lance had returned by now, and only Hunk and Shiro holding Keith back had prevented actual bloodshed following Lance's overly cocky grin upon reentering the room. Pidge still delivered a painful shock as retribution.

"Great," Keith answered, still glaring at his body, which was now temporarily housing a loudmouthed nightmare, "So, we can recreate it and fix this."

Hunk frowned, "It's not that simple. A power surge could really hurt you guys."

Pidge added, "Plus, we don't even know for sure what caused it. It could have been something else entirely."

Keith scowled, "At this point, I'd risk an injury just to get out of this scrawny idiot's body."

"Scrawny?!" Lance squawked, the others giggling quietly at the sound of Keith's voice producing such a sound, "You have tiny little doll hands! You have no room to talk!"

"My hands are just _proportionate_!"

Lance smirked, the gesture looking obnoxiously at home on Keith's face, " _I'll_ say."

For the second time, they had to pry the two apart.

"Keith, if you kill him, you're just killing your own body." Shiro reminded him tersely.

Keith almost looked like he was weighing the pros and cons of that as he lunged at Lance again.

Lance laughed, easily moving out of the way, "Wow, it's a lot easier to dodge in your body."

"That's what happens when you have actual muscle, idiot!"

Lance frowned, "Hey, hey, hey! Watch it!" He took a step toward the door threateningly, "I'll go shave this stupid mullet off!"

Keith smirked, "Try it and I'll throw all your beauty products out of the airlock."

Lance paled, "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

A loud alarm interrupted the banter, and everyone looked over to see what had triggered the ship's security system. Allura scowled, "Just what we need. A Galra ship."

"We need to form Voltron," Shiro declared, "Let's go."

Lance paused, "So, um. Where should _we_ go?"

Everyone froze.

Coran chuckled, "Well, the lions are bonded to your spirits, so you should go to the lion you typically ride."

Keith grimaced, "Red is not going to like this."

Lance rolled his eyes, the motion looking particularly dramatic on Keith, "Yeah, I'm sure Blue will be just _thrilled_ , but at least I know _my_ lion will let me in." Keith sent another glare at the dig.

 

In fact, neither lion allowed them in at first. Red just remained completely still, leaving Keith to once more glare at his temperamental lion while elsewhere, Blue seemed almost puzzled.

 

"Come on, Blue!" Lance crooned, almost hating the sound of it in Keith's voice, "It's me! I know I look like mullet-head, and I know he's stupid, but you've gotta let me in, bud! We need to save everyone! Let me in!"

Blue's eyes lit up as the lion leaned down and regarded him briefly. The hair raised on his arms as Lance stared at the lion, practically vibrating with the rumble of Blue's inquisitive purr in his mind.

He grinned, "That's right. It's me. Let me in." Lance surprised himself with how much he liked hearing his own tenderness in Keith's voice.

Blue finally opened its mouth to let him in, and Lance grinned, quickly clambering inside.

 

Red meanwhile stayed stubbornly quiet. Keith gently stroked one mechanical foot, "Red, I know you don't like it, but come on, it's me. Just...taller and louder." Keith hated the whiny edge to Lance's voice as he tried to coax his lion into cooperating.

If possible, Red seemed even more silent at that.

"Come on, the castle is under attack. The others need us. Let's go."

Red didn't budge.

"Come on," he sighed, "I'm still your paladin. I just look different."

Keith could swear Red mentall scoffed at that.

Finally, he decided to follow his instincts and try something different. Keith flipped on the communications link in his helmet, "Hey, Lance, Blue let you in yet?"

Red seemed to stir at the question.

"Of course!" Lance declared, and somehow he managed to sound just as obnoxious with Keith's voice as he typically did with his own, "I told you Blue would let me in." Keith would never have expected to end up hating the sound of his own voice, but then that was Lance. Full of surprises.

A low rumble filled Keith's mind as he opened his mouth to speak. A warning that Keith ignored as he always seemed to. He scoffed, "Hard to believe your lion actually might be bet-"

He was cut off by Red grabbing him up and scooping him into its open mouth where he tumbled into the control room. Keith winced, glad Lance would be the one dealing with these bruises tomorrow, assuming they sorted this out.

"I knew that would get your attention," Keith said, a small smirk on his lips. He knew he'd need to apologize later, but for now, he flew the lion out of its bay and headed towards the fight.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Gravity Falls for the line "tiny little doll hands".  
> Also posted on tumblr under mysteryfics.


End file.
